Forgotten?
by xxRenK
Summary: After the gallery visit, Ib doesn't remember anything relating to the Guertena gallery. She's had dreams even months after, replaying the demise of the two people she had cherished the most. Mary, her adopted sister, she depended on for protection, although she scared Ib at times. And what about Garry? Well, he couldn't have really become a Forgotten Portrait, could he?
1. Dreams

The girl gasped as she shot up, eyes wide and tears streaming down her face. _Ah. . . It's that dream again. . . _She sighed, running a hand through her messy auburn hair and wiping her tears with her sleeve. Her covers were partly on the floor, and twisted up as if she had been writhing during her sleep. She had been having the same dream for the longest time, but as time passed, it came to haunt her less frequently. The odd thing about this dream, if it's frequency wasn't strange enough, was that she only remembered tiny particles of slivers of what occurred after she woke up. After all these years of having the same dream, all she remembered was flashes of different colors, like red, green, yellow, and blue, and fire.

It had all started eight years ago, when she was just an innocent and naïve nine-year-old girl. She had been taken against her will to the gallery of an artist named Guertena. Although Ib herself didn't recall much from the trip, her parents remembered losing her after letting her wander free in the mazes of portraits, paintings, and sculptures, and Mary, her foster sister, finding her sobbing in front of a large painting of a purple-haired young man resting on a bed of blue roses. He had his eyes closed, with tears rolling down his cheeks and a vine with sharp thorns wrapped around his neck, leading up above the portrait like a noose. Ib was apparently clutching a blue rose tightly to her chest, and escorted home despite her screaming and kicking.

Although she had no recollection of this event and her trip to the gallery, that particular painting has had a large impression in her life. The nameless man in the painting had always consumed her dreams, and she often woke up in the middle of the night with eyes swollen from crying.

"Eve."

The said girl turned towards the voice. Mary's deep blue eyes met hers.

"That dream again?"

"Yeah…"

After a moment of silence, Mary let out a small sigh and smiled brightly.

"Well, hurry up, now. Don't wanna be late for school~"

Ib nodded and got out of bed, walking over to her closet to grab her school uniform. It was a typical Japanese uniform, a simple black with white lines, in the typical sailor-style design.

As she reached for it, her fingers brushed a piece of red material. It was the bow she had always worn when she was younger, and wrapped tenderly inside it was something that seemed to have been a rose. A blue petal was caught on one of the thorns, but she had never thought of taking it out. The former rose wasn't wilted or shrunken, oddly. It was simply petal-less.

"Eve! What are you doing? I told you we're going to be late!" Mary stood in the doorway, dressed in her uniform. When she saw what her foster sister was holding, her expression seemed to change. There was something different in her eyes as she walked over calmly and peered at the object in her sister's hand.

"What's that?" She asked casually. However, the curious, fun-loving tone in her voice was gone. Ib, sensing a change in the blonde, hurriedly put the rose away. Mary watched her, eyes seemingly cold and piercing.

"Just a moment…" The brunette said softly, a bit fidgety at Mary's change of behavior.

"Well, don't just stand there, hurry up~!" The playful tone returned, and she skipped out, blonde curls bouncing.

Ib dressed hurriedly and rushed out.

Mary had always acted strange whenever anything about the gallery or her dreams was brought up. Her attitude changed, and her eyes, which usually contained a mischievous glint, became cold and fierce. Her parents didn't notice, and Ib kept quiet about it, but she had always been curious and a bit fearful about why her sister acted this way.

"Let's go," The blonde grinned, taking Ib's hand and leading her out.


	2. Fire

Ib hated school. There were so many judgmental people there, and she despised the way everyone lied. Every student had a mask, and even if their lies were completely see-through, they still acted shallow and went along with it as if it weren't obvious at all. However, she also hated herself and how she acted. Ib felt that she never expressed what she wanted, and when she disapproved of something, she never made any action to stop it; simply just stood there and watched, expressionless. She hated how she was always silent and emotionless, and how the words never came out.

On the other hand, Mary was perfect. She was beautiful, with her golden waves and sparkling blue eyes. She was beautiful, with her playful, mischievous personality and optimistic cheeriness. Mary was someone who would fight for what she truly wanted, and expressed herself openly. She could easily influence and convince others. _Perhaps her innocent smile may have something to do with that._ Ib wished… If only she could be like Mary.

Classes drifted by, with the same boring drone that the teachers talked in. Gym class was no different, as running made the class gloomy and tired. Ib was not an athletic girl, and gym class was her least favorite. It gave people an opportunity to make fun of her, and she wouldn't be able to speak up. She felt pitiful and useless to even herself. But then again, Mary was in many of her classes, and always stayed somewhere beside her. Mary was extremely protective of Ib and even violent sometimes. Therefore, Ib, who had no say in anything, relied and depended on Mary to be her voice.

"Eve~~!" Mary waved Ib over with a grin. "C'mon, Mom and Dad's here to pick us up."

She noticed her sister's confused expression and added,

"Don't you remember? You have another appointment today."

Ib blinked and sighed after giving a small nod. She despised her psychiatrist appointments. They were pointless, as Ib didn't really have anything wrong with her (or so she thought). It was just the repetitive dreams that were the problem, but even then she wasn't able to recall much anyway.

This time it wasn't any different. Although Ib would usually panic a bit when she was separated from Mary, she had gotten quite used to these and walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. Right before the door closed, Mary flashed her a smile and took her usual place right outside the door to wait for her sister. She didn't seem bothered in the least having to wait for Ib to finish her monthly appointment.

The brunette took her seat facing her doctor, whom she addressed as Ms. Sara, and kept silent as she organized her paperwork. Ms. Sara smiled at Ib.

"Do you remember anything else?"

Ib shook her head. _As usual._ Sara smiled, and set her hands on the table, looking her 'patient' in the eyes.

"Ib, dear, we're going to try something different now. I'll explain it at first, and you'll tell me if you want to do this, alright?"

The young girl nodded, her eyes showing curiousity. Sara took out a lighter, and Ib blinked, scooting back a bit and studying her doctor's expression, trying to figure out what she was going to do.

"You mentioned fire inside your dream, right?"

Ib gave another hesitant nod.

"Now, Ib, remember. Although it would most likely benefit us, I'm not forcing you to do this. Nod if you understand, sweetie."

Ib paused, and opened her mouth to speak.

"W-What are you going to do?"

"Since you remember the element of fire in your dreams, hopefully you might be able to remember something when looking into a fire." Ib's psychiatrist gave another sweet smile. "Would you like to give it a try?"

Ib fidgeted nervously.

"A-ah… I suppose…" Her voice was weak and timid.

"Wonderful." Sara clapped her hands cheerily, and held up the lighter. "Just say 'stop' and it'll be gone, alright?"

A tiny flame appeared, wavering slightly. Ib looked at it, watching it glow.

_Nothing. Just emptiness._

_Was this activity supposed to draw up some memory from the dark, murky pool of her mind?_

A flash of bright red suddenly consumed her mind for a split second. Ib gasped from the sudden image. As she stared into the flame, something seemed to happen. It felt as if her soul was slowly being lured into the redness that perched on top of the simple lighter.

Another flash, this time longer. There was also something else- no, someone else. Blue…? Or was it purple? Both? Something dark… She caught a glimpse of someone's face. It was pale, well-chiseled, with fine, sculpted features. Violet eyes seemed to burn into her soul, as if they could figure out her darkest, deepest secrets just by looking in her eyes. Despite that, they were gentle and soothing. Calming. It reminded Ib of the kind of people you would trust just by looking at them.

As she looked into the beautiful eyes, time seemed to slow down. There was a change. Faintly, she could smell… What was it- Shampoo? It was awfully familiar, and Ib was surprised at how a simple smell calmed her down so much. There was something she was clutching in her hand- Some kind of cloth, perhaps?

Ib felt arms around her, embracing her tightly. Judging by where the arms were placed, she assumed they belonged to someone much higher than her. Usually, she realized, if she had found herself in a situation similar to this, she wouldn't at least attempted to wriggle herself free of the arms and ran as far away as she could. But these arms- this smell- the material in her hand- the colors swirling around her- they all seemed so familiar and- how could she explain it. It felt like she was safe. It wasn't an I'm-home safe, or the feeling of protection a child may receive from, say, their parents. It made her feel like, no matter what would happen or where she was, she felt like she would never be endangered.

Ib was confused. Who was this person?

_Look up._

She felt the air around her grow warm, and another smell reached her nose. This one stung sharply, and she almost recoiled from the shock. It was the smell of something burning.

_Look up._

There were voices. Voices swirling around her. However, they seemed muffled and distorted, and she couldn't make anything out of the shouting and the crackling.

…crackling?

"Eve!" The voice seemed far away, as if a glass separated her and whoever it belonged to. It was a male's voice, Ib realized.

She blinked. 'Eve'? Only Mary called her that. Everyone else addressed her by-

"Eve!" The voice sounded closer, and had more clarity. Everything around her seemed groggy. She recognized the crackling as something from a large fire.

"Eve!?" _"Eve!"_

Two voices overlapped; a male and a female. The latter sounded farther away. It was shrill, and also seemed extremely familiar. Now that she thought about it, the male voice sounded like it came from directly above her. If only she looked up…

_"Eve!"_

It was the female voice. Ma… Mar…

"Mary!?" Ib's eyes opened in a flash. They closed almost immediately as something stung. Smoke? She opened them again, cautiously.


End file.
